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Friday April 3, 2015

President's Update - April

Hello senate presidents and other interested readers,

The months of 2015 are flying by, and all around California faculty are not only engaged in educating our students but also actively participating in a number of initiatives, both locally and at the state level. The workload seems to grow weekly, but we continue to respond to the challenges and to produce outstanding results in all aspects of our work. As the Spring Plenary Session approaches, the ASCCC offers the following updates to help you stay informed regarding statewide developments as you continue to serve the faculty and students on your campuses.

Spring 2015 ASCCC Plenary Session

The ASCCC 2015 Spring Plenary Session will be held at the San Francisco Airport Westin on April 9-11. The theme for this plenary is “Thriving Under Pressure,” an acknowledgement of both the many demands to which we must respond and the outstanding work that we continue to do.

General Sessions at the Spring Plenary will include a panel discussion with representatives from the Task Force on Workforce, Job Creation, and a Strong Economy and a presentation on equity from Tyrone Howard, director of UCLA’s Black Male Institute. We will also offer breakout sessions on the statewide technology initiatives, the baccalaureate degree pilot, part-time faculty inclusion, the revision of the ASCCC bylaws, legislation, budget, and many other topics.

The ASCCC Executive Committee will meet on April 8, the day before the plenary session, at Berkeley City College. More information is available here. If you are from the Bay Area or are able to arrive a day early for plenary, we encourage you to join us for the Executive Committee Meeting in order to hear and take part in our discussions.

We also want to urge everyone to remember that we hold elections on Saturday, April 11 and that we are scheduled to continue voting until 5:00 p.m. We hope that those flying in from the south will make travel arrangements in a manner that allows them to remain until the end of voting. If flights from San Francisco are not convenient, remember that the Oakland airport is not far away and might offer additional options for remaining until the end of the day.

Spring Fling 2015

The ASCCC Foundation will be presenting the Spring Fling fundraiser again at the Spring Plenary Session. This event will take place on Friday evening, April 10, and will involve a silent auction, a semi-formal dinner, and an evening of dancing. Tickets for the dinner and dance are $100 per person or $1000 for a table. Please join us for a relaxing and fun evening before the excitement of the voting day and elections on Saturday.

Task Force on Workforce, Job Creation, and a Strong Economy

The
Task Force on Workforce, Job Creation, and a Strong Economy, also commonly referred to as the Workforce Taskforce, held its second meeting on April 2 and will continue to meet through July. The ASCCC held regional meetings in three areas of the state in order to gather additional faculty input for the taskforce. More than 150 faculty attended these regional meetings. The Academic Senate is also composing papers on Curriculum and Instructors and Pathways and Student Support to help inform the task force members, half of whom come from outside the system. Faculty members on the taskforce and all of the ASCCC leadership are working diligently to
help focus the discussion and ensure that the recommendations produced by the taskforce serve the best interests of our colleges, our programs, and our students. More information on the Workforce Taskforce can be found here.

Baccalaureate Degree Pilot

On March 16, the Board of Governors gave final approval to 12 colleges that will participate in the Community College Baccalaureate Degree Pilot created by SB 850
(Block, 2014). The final three spots in the pilot are expected to be filled at the May Board of Governors Meeting. The ASCCC is in the process of forming a task force that will work with the pilot colleges to determine the parameters of the pilot program in terms of issues such as minimum qualifications, upper division general education requirements, definition of upper division coursework, and necessary support services. ASCCC Secretary John Stanskas will chair this task force, with Curriculum Chair Michelle Grimes-Hillman serving as vice-chair. We will continue to keep you up to date on all developments as the Baccalaureate Degree Pilot moves forward.

Legislation

A huge number of new bills were introduced in the California legislature early this year, and the ASCCC Legislative and Advocacy Committee is still trying to sort through them. Some of the most significant bills so far identified are as follows:

• AB 288 (Holden): Expands possibilities for dual enrollment of high school students. A resolution seeking ASCCC support for this bill will be debated at the Spring Plenary Session. The bill is sponsored by the CCC Chancellor’s Office.
• AB 490 (Alejo): Seeks to restore funding for EOPS and CARE programs. Based on previously adopted resolutions, the ASCCC has filed a letter of support with the Assembly Higher Education Committee.
• AB 626 (Low): Seeks to establish a method to ensure funding for hiring of full-time faculty in pursuit of the 75%/25% full-time to part-time ratio. Also supports part-time office hours and establishment of a proper FT/PT ratio for noncredit. This bill is sponsored by FACCC. A resolution seeking ASCCC support for this bill will be debated at the Spring Plenary Session.
• AB 770 (Irwin): Establishes a financial grant and professional development funding program for adopting or expanding the use of evidence-based models of academic assessment and placement, remediation, and student support that accelerate the progress of underprepared students toward achieving postsecondary educational and career goals.
• AB 798 (Bonilla): Creates a fund for professional development regarding the consideration of Open Educational Resources by faculty. Assemblymember Bonilla has worked directly with the ASCCC in the development of this bill. A resolution seeking ASCCC support for this bill will be debated at the Spring Plenary Session.
• SB 42: (Liu): Creates a replacement for the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) with broader powers and no segmental representation. A resolution seeking ASCCC opposition for this bill will be debated at the Spring Plenary Session.
• SB 66 (Leyva): Continues support for SB 1070 Statewide Careers Pathways Program. A resolution seeking ASCCC support for this bill will be debated at the Spring Plenary Session.

You can find the resolutions for discussion and debate at the Spring Plenary Session on the ASCCC website here.

Growth Funding

SB 860 (2014), the primary education trailer bill related to the 2014 Budget Act, required that the chancellor develop and the Board of Governors adopt a revised formula for distribution of growth funding. The parameters established for this formula are very problematic, and the Chancellor’s Office has been working for an extension and an alteration in the requirements since last fall. However, the requirements remain unchanged at this time. Nearly all constituent groups in the community college system are unhappy with the formula, but the Chancellor’s Office has pledged to make the new calculation for growth funding as workable as
possible under the requirements for the coming year and to seek to revisit the formula at the earliest possible opportunity.

Transfer Agreement with HBCUs

On
March 17, the Board of Governors officially approved an agreement guaranteeing transfer acceptance for California community college students at nine Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The agreement is built around requirements that match the Associate Degrees for Transfer developed in collaboration with the California State University (CSU) system. Given the CSU system’s capacity issues for accepting transfer applicants—the CSU is reported to have rejected as many as 18,000 transfer-ready applicants for Fall 2014—this agreement provides a needed and important opportunity for our students. The ASCCC applauds the Chancellor’s
Office and all other parties involved with the negotiation of this agreement.

We hope that the spring is progressing well for everyone. Continue your great work of representing faculty on your campuses, and contact the ASCCC if we can provide assistance on any matter. We look forward to seeing you at the plenary session and at our other upcoming events.